10 Common Interior Design Mistakes To Avoid

Designing a perfect house is not a simple task, there are a lot of things that need to be taken care of, if you want your guests to be in awe of your interiors. Interior design is not just about curating an aesthetic house, it involves careful planning along with critical thinking.

There are many types of interior design styles that one can consider implementing for a balanced and cohesive home. But, sometimes it can become overwhelming for inexperienced homeowners, when they make blunders. It could be; not measuring your space before buying furniture or not coordinating the furniture with the color theme or hanging the artwork at a wrong level; among other trivial yet common errors.

To help you curate a seamlessly balanced home, keep on reading to know the most common interior designing mistakes.

1. Not Establishing A Proper Budget

Forgetting to draw a reasonable budget either makes or breaks your home designing project. It’s the most important yet the most ignored step. Without a proper budget, you may overspend on certain elements and be left with little to no money for completing the entire project. Thus, determine the amount you are comfortable spending on your home, make sure to keep some extra cash to meet unexpected expenses.

Draw a list of your essential items and wishlist. If you’re hiring a designer, they will design the home as per your requirements within the budget. But, if you’re designing it on your own, you will have to calculate the costs of basic furniture and supplies before assigning a budget for the interior design.

2. Not Measuring The Room

It’s not only important but also necessary to measure the entire space of your room and maybe even make a floor plan. When you know the exact dimensions of your available space, it helps you in selecting appropriate sized furniture and installing a countertop at accurate height.

The fundamental rule of interior design is scale and proportion. If you neglect these and don’t measure the room, you’ll end up with furniture that is either too large or too small for your space. So, when you’re decorating your interiors, always carry a measuring tape with you wherever you go. 

3. Neglecting Comfort And Functionality

Who said your house can’t be both Instagram worthy while being comfortable and functional?

Don’t neglect your comfort for style and choose design over practicality. You’ll spend most of your time on your couch, dining table, and simply walking around the house. So, make sure each element is practical and comfortable.

Although the high-end pieces or futuristic furniture designs seem desirable, they aren’t ideal for regular use.

4. Matching Everything

Assuming that you must match everything in the house is probably the saddest mistake you can make. Because it takes away the fun of decorating a house with various designs and colors to choose from. Color matching every element, from wall paint to furniture to rug and decor may seem like a safe idea, but the room won’t be as welcoming.

People often confuse monochromatic color themes for matching everything. Although the monochromatic theme is a hit, it doesn’t emphasize matching everything. The hues of the base color are adjusted and contrast color is added for a pop of color. So, instead of choosing a single color for the entire room, mix and match different shades of colors and styles to make the room vibrant and give it a unique character.

5. Following A Trend

Don’t fall into the trap of following home designing trends, because they’re here for a short time. Moreover, you’ll end up with a room exactly similar to your neighbor’s. Your house should have modern design elements while being timeless. Your home should reflect your unique personality and individuality. 

If you follow a particular trend it’ll make your house resemble a catalog page from a famous interior magazine, but will lose its charm as the next edition is published. So, add a few trendy elements to reflect your style.

6. Using Too Small Or Too Large Rug

A rug is an essential element of designing as it gives character to your room and makes it stand out. Apart from it complementing your room, it should also fit perfectly in it. The mistake of buying a wrong size rug often happens when you forget to measure your room after furniture placement.

The general rule of thumb, for a living room rug placement should touch the front legs of the furniture like the couch or television stand. As for the dining room, it should cover all four legs of the chair after pulling it out from under the table. And for bedrooms, the rug should either cover the entire bed plus the nightstands or simply use a long runner rug on the sides and foot of your bed while maintaining a minimum of 2 to 3 feet distance between the bed and the rug.

7. Hanging Curtains Wrong 

Another rookie interior design mistake is hanging curtains incorrectly. They’re either hung directly above the window frame; aren’t wide enough, or the fabric doesn’t reach the floor all the way.

First, make sure the curtain rod is wider than the window frame and installed 3 to 4 feet above the window frame or is nearer to the ceiling.

Second, the curtains should extend slightly to the side of the window frame and must touch the ground.

Draping short and narrow curtains from the window frame makes the window seem smaller and gives the room an awkward appearance. But if you hang them higher than the window frame or from the ceiling and to the ground, it gives the room a continuity and an illusion of space.

8. Bad Lighting Or Not Enough Lighting Source

There’s no greater sin than allowing your beautifully decorated house to sit in dim light. Lighting is the most important aspect of your house, it not only illuminates and sets the ambiance of the entire space but also influences your mood. If you get enough daylight to brighten up the whole space, then you’re blessed. But, if you don’t you need to install additional lighting sources to make sure your house is well-lit in day and night.

Many people make the mistake of using just overhead lighting. The best and aesthetic way to achieve a perfectly lit room is to layer your lighting. Go crazy with accent lights, ambient lights and task lights to achieve a well-lit house. 

9. Pushing Everything Against The Wall

You’re excused from this mistake only if you’re short on space. If not, then why are you pushing all your furniture against the wall? Pushing everything against the wall results in a lot of empty spaces in between and makes for an awkward conversation distance. Instead, set the furniture slightly away from the wall, allowing little movement behind it. Leaving a little space between the wall and the furniture gives the room a less constricted appearance and lets it breathe. 

10. Not Eliminating Clutter

Regardless of how much you’ve spent on your home if you don’t get rid of clutter, it won’t seem as beautiful as it was intended to. Reducing clutter not only makes the room better and neat but also reduces your time and stress.

Discard items you no longer need or haven’t used in months and store the rest of the items in a separate storage area away from the display. Throwing away clutter is an easy task, what is difficult is to prevent it from reappearing. To avoid a buildup of clutter, find organizational and storage solutions, and include them in your home design. Like, put a console table near your front door to store keys and to prevent mail from piling up. Or use decorative storage baskets in your living room to store magazines, throw blankets, remotes, and so on.